Hart collected thousands of cards

Brewers outfielder has son getting into collecting

Corey Hart is a card collector's target as one of the mainstays in the Milwaukee Brewers' lineup.

But long before he ever appeared on a card, right fielder Hart was busy collecting cards growing up in Kentucky. He recalled those days here.

MLBPLAYERS.com: Which cards did you collect growing up?

Hart: Darryl Strawberry, Cal Ripken Jr. and Eric Davis, who was one of my favorites. Ozzie Smith, too. I liked Donruss. I liked the design of those cards. Upper Deck was more expensive when I was a kid.

I liked Griffey Jr., but I appreciated him more when I was older. Chipper Jones was one of my favorites, and I collected all of the Braves cards because my dad was a Braves fan. They were always on TV. I have all of their rookie cards, including a couple of Barry Bonds' -- Bobby Bonilla's rookie cards, and a lot of Bo Jackson cards.

I got thousands of cards. I was a pretty good card collector. They're at my mom's house.

MLBPLAYERS.com: Would you like to organize all of these cards?

Hart: Sure. My son, Matthew, is already into baseball. He likes to have all my cards. He's only 3, and, once he gets older, I'm sure he'll understand more what other players have. He'll have the old cards and collect his own. My dad, Johnny, had cards. He had a bunch of Hank Aarons and Yogi Berras.

MLBPLAYERS.com: Where did you first appear on a card?

Hart: When you're 12, you have a season card. It looked like a card. My first real card was Class A in Ogden, Utah. I was 6-foot-5, maybe 180. It looks like I'm 12. I'm playing first base. I looked like a flagpole out there. Once in a while, I'll see those cards. Now I'm a little taller and a lot heavier.

MLBPLAYERS.com: What's your favorite Major League card?

Hart: One of my new ones this year. It's a good picture of me hitting in St. Louis. There's a big crowd, I'm swinging and I got a double.

Story courtesy of Red Line Editorial, Inc.

This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.